Rockpool

There is only one place in the world where you can see a coral reef while standing beneath the canopy of a rainforest. It’s the Great Barrier Reef in the Daintree - an astounding sight for sure, but one that you need to make a very special trip to reach in a very far North part of Queensland where the roads (and towns) end for good. But on the other side of the continent, a little frostier, and a little more pastel, the Great Barrier’s less popular cousin, the Great Southern Reef, is entwined around metropolitan life just a short drive away from sprawling suburbia. The people of South Australia are largely unaware of this circus of colourful creatures just a stone’s throw away from their vineyards, forests, petrol stations and tennis courts. Brilliant orange and blue Ornate Cowfish flutter around the feet of swimmers at Brighton Beach. Rainbow Cale flash their technicolor fins perched atop kelp forests and suddenly transform from green to gold. Giant Australian Cuttles cycle through mind bending rainbow patterns that put modern smart screens to shame. The Blue Ringed Octopus flares its electric rings in a warning to stay away or face a certain death. In darker depths, a sullen Southern Blue Devil sulks alone in a cave, enticingly blue for nobody in particular to see. The Great Southern Reef has colour and it knows how to use it.